Chapter 604 — Did I Misjudge Him?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
The Medicine King wore a look of equal disbelief, finding the photos on the phone far too fantastic: "Surely not? Could it be that Wei Zhao was never injured at all? That he is no Mystic-rank adept, but something higher?"
"Absolutely impossible!" Uncle Zhu shook his head. "When we traded palms, I could plainly sense his strength. He is early Mystic-rank, without a doubt! And if he were something mightier, he would have had no need to heed my warning that I would fight to the death — he could simply have struck at Young Master Bing directly! The fact that he chose to fall back shows he was not wholly certain of beating me head-on. Besides, only when two are evenly matched would I be wounded and yet not killed. If his strength had been too great, I could not be standing here speaking now — I would long since have breathed my last!"
"But the fact remains that Wei Zhao truly did go out. Let us not debate what is possible or impossible — it is already possible!" Li Cihua said with some helplessness. "Uncle Zhu, Master Medicine — if Wei Zhao were gravely wounded, he could absolutely not rise from his bed?"
"That is not something one can state as absolute..." the Medicine King shook his head. "There is only one possibility: he dispersed his internal energy, and so returned to normal."
"Dispersed his internal energy?" Li Cihua was taken aback, not quite grasping what the Medicine King meant.
"Yes, dispersed his internal energy," the Medicine King nodded and explained. "When a skilled practitioner has taken a grave wound that would otherwise be fatal, there are two ways to preserve his life. The first is to restore him with wondrous elixirs compounded from vast quantities of rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures — though of course this also requires a skilled hand versed in the healing arts to assist with true qi, for the true qi of heaven and earth alone is not enough to heal the injury. The second, if one lacks the conditions for the first, is to disperse the internal energy in one's body, and only thus preserve one's life."
"Ah? You mean to say that once his life is saved, his former strength is gone for good?" Li Cihua asked in astonishment.
"You could put it that way," the Medicine King nodded.
"Could Wei Zhao have dispersed his internal energy?" Li Cihua murmured to himself. "The first method demands too much — rare elixirs from heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and a skilled hand versed in the healing arts besides. Wei Zhao likely could not have obtained any of that. To save his life, dispersing his internal energy is quite possible."
"In the first method, those two conditions need not both be present at once," the Medicine King said with a wave of his hand. "When both are present, recovery comes a little faster; lacking one, recovery is still possible, only a little slower."
"Wei Zhao likely has neither of those conditions," Li Cihua said. "So he chose to disperse his internal energy — that too is possible."
"Unlikely..." The Medicine King frowned. "Brother Zhu, if it were you, would you choose to disperse your internal energy?"